The Runaway
by gaarasmistress39
Summary: Lucy's on the run and Natsu's on death row. One seeks redemption & love, the other a home and freedom from what the fates dealt her. Will a seemingly by chance meeting help these two lost souls.
1. A close call

"speaking"

_thoughts_

* * *

He needed to get himself under control. Natsu stared at the members of the magic council debated his punishment, and knew that anything less than death would be less than he deserved. He had been going from city to city murdering young women in cold blood, his inner dragon was looking for a mate and when the woman turned out to not be it he killed her for wasting his time, so he stalked women both magical and mortal...mostly high school girls between the ages of sixteen and eighteen, which was still creepy considering he was twenty-six. The people were convinced that there was either a cult or a serial killer among them, especially since Natsu always managed not to leave a trace. He was disappointed in himself and his lack of control over his more beastly nature. he couldn't just follow them around and see if they were his mate; no, he just had to sleep with them, and then kill them reveling in the clear fear that was in their eyes. Squeezing their neck until the last breath of life fled their beautiful bodies.

"Please stand for your sentencing," one of the council women commanded.

Natsu stood ready to except whatever the five highly respected magical judges had decided for him. "Natsu Dragneel, you have been found guilty of all charges placed against you and your statement has been taken into consideration." The woman continued speaking for the entire council, "But your punishment will not be death."  
"May I inquire as to why?" Natsu asked.  
"You cannot help your nature dragon, we do not see it necessary to punish you for what you are." The only male on the council explained, "your sessions with our therapist has revealed that you are looking for a mate and have grown frustrated, thus the cause for your violence towards these women."

"Then what have you chosen to be my fate?" Natsu asked somewhat thankful that a session with a therapist was required before the council was aloud to make a decision.

"You will be exiled for two years with girl after girl of our choosing until you find the girl your looking for, and we will be checking to make sure that they are all still alive and well should you reject them."

"You are going to lock me away with a teenage girl for two years?" He asked finding that he was both confused and horrified.  
"The therapist seems to think that this will help with your problem, and we will come to see you every day while she is at school." Another member said, the slight smile playing upon the lips telling him that she found his predicament entertaining .

Natsu bit back the hiss that had arisen from his anger, and opted for clenching and un-clenching his fists instead. "You brought this upon your self." She smirked.

"What about the girl's family?" Natsu asked, "I do not want to be responsible for taking the life of someone's daughter again."  
"Don't worry she won't be missed."

"What does that mean?" Natsu asked not liking how the council woman had responded to his concerns.  
"It means its nothing for you to concern yourself with." The amused woman snapped and with that he was escorted from the court room.

* * *

Lucy looked at her surroundings carefully before she went into the small corner store; there wasn't any alarms or cameras so if the person behind was a bum she could shove a lot of stuff into her bag, but it wouldn't matter much since she had it on good word that a few of the local bad asses were going to rob the place.

"Can I help you?" The guy behind the counter demanded glaring at her.  
"Do you have a lady's room in here? she asked, "there isn't one at the train station."  
He glared at her a while longer and gave her a key, "down the back hall." He grumbled lighting a cigarette.

She didn't have to wait long; she waited three minutes then emerged to find the guy behind the counter being held at gun point by three guys in masks. "What the hell?" One of the attackers yelled pulling out a knife and pointing it at her.  
"Take it easy boys," she said holding up her hands, "I'm just here to steal some snacks so that I can catch my train and continue running away."

"Just snacks?" Another boy asked and Lucy nodded, "take what you want and get out." The one holding the gun commanded her.

Lucy quickly stuffed her bags with food and a couple of the souvenir hats and hoodies,and walked back out into the cold night air. "Looks like another foster kid is running away from that shelter." She heard the guy with the gun say as the door closed behind her.

* * *

Lucy did the right thing and notified the proper authorities of the robbery in progress when she arrived back at that train station, and shortly after that the train arrived. She didn't know where she was going, but anywhere was better than that shelter for unruly foster children. She sat at the back of the train car out of sight of the few other passengers, _I'll get more than one city away. _She decided that way if she was reported missing they wouldn't be able to find her. Lucy pulled out one of her books to read; she was fond of romance and science fiction novels, and dreamed of someday adding her name to the long line of successful authors.

* * *

**AN:Please R&R :)  
**

**Love Found- Inuyasha, (Sess/Rin)  
**

**House- Teen Titans, (Rob/Star, and other parings.)-Delayed  
**


	2. A long walk to reflect

"speaking"

_thoughts_

* * *

Lucy stepped off the train and found herself in a large busy town of Magnolia, she dubbed this far enough away from that stupid was concerned however, with the five people who were waiting for her when she stepped off the train. There were four women and one man. "Hello there young lady." A red haired woman said.

"Hi..."Lucy replied keeping alert in case they tried something.  
"You're kind of young to be traveling all alone." The small blue haired one told her. she tilted her head to the side in an adorable way and smiled at the confused and more than likely a little creeped out blonde.  
"I'm almost eighteen, so it not really a big deal...are you with the authorities?" Lucy asked wearily eying the group, they didn't look like they would force her to go back but you just couldn't leave thoes kinds of things to chance anymore.

"No, but we were told that here is where we would find the runaway teenage girl we're looking for...we're mages." Only guy said said. "Why aren't you wearing any pants?" Lucy asked and the male began freaking out, "and what the hell was he talking about?" She demanded tucking a strand of her long blonde hair behind her ear.

"If we promise not to take you back to wherever you're running from and not to hurt you, will you take a ride with us?" The woman with the long wavy brown hair asked.

Three women. One with blue hair and a child like innocence about her. One with long red hair and a hard looking outer shell (referring to how tough she looks). Another with blue hair and overly obvious feelings for the nearly naked black haired man. And lastly the woman with the long brown hair, she looked as tough as the red head but somehow less threatening.

Lucy saw no reason not to trust them, and at least she would get a ride into town out of it. _They don't seem like their from a dark guild, and I don't think an actual dark guild would make promises or give me a choice on weather or not I left with them._

* * *

Natsu sat in the over grown garden behind the mansion that the council had exiled him to. "I've been here alone for two weeks." He sighed. Natsu was a very social person, he liked to fight and he loved hanging out with his friends. He missed his best friend Happy who was at the moment staying at the guild since the fury, blue cat like exceed had not been allowed to join him. Man exile was boring!

He sighed again wondering when the punishment thought up by his other friends from the guild would come into play, hell being stuck alone was punishment enough for him, and he felt kind of bad that the girl they chose would have to suffer to...but at least they wouldn't be alone.  
_Those guys got really weird when they started doing the whole council thing._

__"This is really going to be a test of my strength!" He declared firing himself up to face the new challenge, he set his lunch a blaze and devoured it in what looked to be one bite. "But for the sake of the girl I will not fail!"

* * *

Somehow the weird conversation at the train station had ended with Lucy riding with them in a magically powered carriage (don't remember what it was called); she was unaware of why they wanted her specifically, but what she had been told seemed like a pretty good deal to her. Someone that they cared about had lost someone close to him, _probably his lover,_ as a result he had shut himself away in his mansion and cut himself off from his friends. "All I have to do is show the dragon slayer how great life is, and live in a mansion where all of my needs will be taken care of." She read from the paper they had given her to explain things better than their very vague explanations.

This nameless mage was supposed to be awaiting her arrival, and according to them it had taken a good week to convince him to agree to the whole thing. Since his friends had for some reason been unable to accompany her to the mansion and see to it that she made it up the incredibly steep hill safely...they just kind of dropped her off at the bottom of it.

"I wish they would have at least given me his name or a photo, so I'd have something to go off of in planning my now solo approach." She sighed as the familiar sound sound of thunder echoed over her head and the smell of rain invaded her nostrils. She knew the signs of a storm well; it was storming the day she had been removed from her first foster home, as well as the first time she'd ever run away from a home and was soon caught and sent back, on her sixteenth birthday when they realized she was to troublesome to keep tossing in homes and sent her to the shelter with others like her. "It has of course rained more times than that in m lifetime, but these were all significant moments in my life." She said as if she were justifying her dislike of the rain to someone.

_Perhaps this time the rain will signify a happy turning point in my life._ She thought to herself as she continued to trudge up the long driveway that wound around the hill, trying to remain positive.  
Lucy wasn't in the system anymore so the worse that could happen to her was rape. _Not like I'm a virgin anymore._ She sighed inwardly, thinking of the athletes and mages at school and at bars she had pleasured in order to save up money for her trip. The kids at that shelter were pretty much on their own, there was someone older there to supervise them sure, but they had to feed and take care of themselves really, so she did what most of the other girls were doing to make sure that she survived. Lucy accepted the loss of her innocence as a necessary sacrifice to stay alive and get where she wanted to be.

While living in the mansion Lucy would receive a monthly allowance to do as she pleased. "This new life could be a reward from the Kami for all my hardships." The mused.

* * *

**AN: Sorry if this seems kind of boring Its just a way to get Lucy's character development out of the way.  
**

**Next chapter: Lucy meets Natsu- Natsu meets Lucy. How will that go I wounder?  
**

**R&R please.  
**


	3. Why she runs

"Speaking"

_Thoughts_

* * *

Natsu went to answer the door bracing himself for what he would see on the other side.

"Hi, I'm Lucy," the soaking wet girl said as he stood there staring at her dumbly. Her long blonde hair was wet and tangling, she had a drool worth figure with nice wide hips and breasts he wished to use as a pillow. And her eyes were a deep pool of dark brown.  
Lucy sneezed suddenly bringing him out of his thoughts, and he quickly got her inside.

"I'll show you to your room so you can change; then we can do introductions later." He said hurrying her into another room and up the stairs leading to the second floor.

He'd seemed surprised to see her, like he'd been expecting her arrival, but at the same time he was surprised to see her standing on his door step. The need to get out of the rain had kept her from studying the outside of the large estate; and he'd rushed her up to her room so fast she hadn't been able to get a good look at any of the rooms they had passed or walked through.

* * *

Natsu stood outside to the bed room with his forehead pressed against the cold, well polished, oak wood surface. He hopped that she liked the room since he'd spent his first two days of exile preparing for her arrival. _She's so intoxicating!_ He groaned inwardly, _not just her sent, but her_ _body and the sound of her voice, the innocent look in her eyes, I-I must claim her before another man does!_  
Lucy must've found the en-suite bathroom because instead of the previous rustling sounds he'd heard while consumed by his thoughts he heard the shower. "I need to be a bit more hospitable, she may be hungry." He said grinning as he headed back downstairs to make them both a snack.

* * *

Lucy allowed the steaming hot water to fall over her body relaxing her muscles, and clearing her mind; she hadn't thought she'd be able to get a shower so soon after running away. "He must've really liked the idea of someone coming to stay here and help him out," she muttered thinking back to what her room looked like.

It was lavender and baby-blue, covered in silk and lace. The window seat was home to various sized teddy bears, and the bed could hold at least seven people. There weren't any clothes in the large walk-in closet or in the dark polished wood dresser. _Though I know this wasn't specifically made for me, he really did capture my style. _She thought as she shampooed her hair.

She felt like royalty and she liked it. "Reminds me of how my parents used to treat me before they vanished."She sighed shoving back the painful memory before it could completely surface and erase the wonderful effects of the shower.  
"Bad Lucy!" She scolded herself aloud, "I should refrain from dwelling on the past; when I'm in the process of making a better future for myself." She was doing it aloud so that it would feel like someone else was speaking to her.

* * *

The sent of oranges, mangoes and vanilla drifted to him as his _punishment _entered the kitchen and took a seat as the small island. She didn't say anything she just sat there watching him with her analytical brown eyes.  
He certainly was handsome; he was thin but muscular exactly how she liked. She could tell that he got his exercise daily, but since he was a member of Fairy Tail she assumed it was from all of his town destroying missions. His eyes seemed gold in color though she could've sworn they were silver when he answered the door **(I noticed this while watching the anime and looking at pictures)**. His hair was short and messy, but strangely it was pink.

"Thank you" she said when he sat a bowl of fresh fruit salad in front of her.  
"What did you say your name was?"

"Lucy. Lucy Heartfilia."  
"Well Lucy its a pleasure to meet you, I am Natsu Dragneel. I do hope you will enjoy staying here with me, and please don't hesitate to tell me if there is anything that you need."  
"Clothes." She said quickly excepting the fork he offered. "Due to the circumstances of my arrival here, I didn't really bring much clothing." She continued eating a pineapple slice, in reality she only packed the clothes that didn't look like town or raggedy rags.

"We can go shopping as soon as the rain dies down," Natsu said. "It's summer break now, but you'll need suitable clothes to wear to school."  
"School?"  
"My so called friends have arranged for you to attend a local private school."  
"You may have a hard time getting my school records. My circumstances wont make it easy." She said. "What exactly are these _circumstances_ you keep referring to?" He asked sitting on the stool across from her.

* * *

Lucy studied Natsu and his goofy grin for a minute before speaking, "Do you swear that this stays between us?"She asked completely serious.

"I promise." He said.

"My parents disappeared off of the face of the Earth when I was five, and I was dumped into foster care." She sighed, "I ran away every time they put me in a new home so I was deemed troublesome."

"Is that all?" Natsu asked not liking the sad expression on her beautiful face.

"No, when you're marked as troublesome you get shipped north where it always snows to a shelter made for foster kids that have been given up on, kind of like a run down orphanage."

"And now you've runaway again?" He asked putting things together kind of quickly for him.  
"Yep, and if I can keep from getting caught for the next three months I'll be eighteen and there wont be anything that they can do about it." She said ending the explanation.

"Well, I wont tell anyone, and you'll be legal when school school starts back."  
"Good. I'd rather be living with you than with a bunch of teens who got the short stick." She smiled.


	4. bounce a quarter off of that

"speaking"

_thoughts_

* * *

The rain died down an hour later, and they rode in another magical vehicle; "you don't have kids do you?" Lucy asked as they rode along.  
"No, never thought about it." Natsu replied thinking that they would make beautiful kids.  
"Did your wife want kids?"  
"My wife?"  
"We'll your friends told me that you lost someone dear to you, and I assumed it was your wife or lover." Lucy said picking up on his confusion. "That's the reason they asked me to come and stay with you."

* * *

Natsu couldn't believe that they sent her to him without telling her the truth. "I've never been married, and I haven't recently lost anyone." He told her, "but I am going through some things and you can help me."

"Why would your friends lie?"  
"They've been acting very odd since they decided to form a council...I may have to get Mira Jane on them."  
"Why are you still friends with them if they are causing trouble?" Lucy asked.  
"We've been friends since childhood, and I know in their own strange way they were just trying to help...Fairy Tail is full of strange people."  
"Perhaps I'm not the only one with _circumstances_ that need explaining." She said.  
"I'll explain things to you when I find out why they lied, and a way to easily explain things to you." He said hopping to ease her suspicions. "So long as its the truth." She shrugged. Lucy didn't get the impression that she couldn't trust him, in fact it was more like she could trust him with her life and that he was incredibly goofy and laid back. Nope nothing off about him whatsoever.

Natsu had been honest about telling her the truth and she could see that. "Its good that we are starting this relationship on an honest note." She said filling what had turned into silence and briefly wondering what relationship she was referring to. To Natsu what she had just said made him think that she thought this whole thing was simply a business deal. She was completely clueless, while he was feeling the need to bite down on the pulse in her neck and give her his mark as his instincts were demanding that he do.

"What do you want to shop for first?" He asked hopping that talking about it would distract him from his inner beast.  
"As every girl knows you have to get shoes before clothes." (I shop this way)  
"Alright then."  
"Are you okay?" Lucy asked, "you seem really tense."

"I need my potion, could you reach into that bag and hand me one of the little bottles?"  
"What is this?" Lucy asked looking at what she was holding. It was similar to a small lunch box sized bottle of Disani water, only it was filled with a pink liquid that she felt intrigued by for some reason.  
"That would be something Erza gave me to help with my problem."  
"Oh." She said fully believing that she would get a full answer later.

* * *

He drank the entire bottle before they arrived at the first shop, and started nursing a second one as he watched her try on various items.

"You drank three whole bottles," Lucy said as they headed back to the estate; Natsu chuckled at Lucy's concern.  
"That's four less than what I drank yesterday. Which means that I must be doing a bit better."  
"I see..." Lucy said. There wasn't anything to rush her inside of the mansion when they had finally made it to the top of the hill, so she stopped to take a look. "I'm surprised this place is still structurally sound."  
He just chuckled at her shock, but he inwardly admited that whoever owned the place had really let it go.

Natsu helped her carry her bags up to her room, and disappeared into his own room across the hall.

Oddly Lucy found herself ogling his retreating form. He had such broad shoulders and his vest didn't hide his muscles since he wasn't wearing an actual shirt. "Bet I could bounce a quarter off of his ass." She muttered to herself quickly shutting the door to her own room before she could be caught, since he seemed content to leave his own door wide open.

* * *

**AN: finished another chapter...man my hands are killing me :)  
**

**R&R please.  
**


	5. Why?

"speaking"

_thoughts_

* * *

She was a very organized person, so it had taken thirty minutes before she found herself back in the kitchen; she was memorizing the layout and looking for dinner possibilities. Natsu had vanished before she had finished putting her things away so she couldn't see what he wanted to eat.

_I wounder where he disappeared to? _She thought to herself as she absentmindedly pulled out what she would need to make rice and chicken.

_Not used to having house guests..._was the conclusion that she came to in her mind to act in his defense.

* * *

_Why would they lie about why she's really here? _Natsu groaned falling back on his bed, _now I have to find away to explain things...maybe she'll understand since she is a mage herself. Celestial if I'm not mistaken._

__The smell of food hit his sensitive nose, and he sighed, _Perhaps I should just sleep with her and then explain things? _

* * *

**AN: finished another chapter...man my hands my creativity is dying! Someone give me an idea about how Mira finds out please! Your help will be appreciated.  
**

**R&R please.  
**


End file.
